Storm Zero Gravity Bowling Ball Review

The Storm Zero Gravity is the latest release in the Premier line for Storm. This ball utilizes a new coverstock formulation that is a solid version of the ERG coverstock that was used in pearl form on the Lucid and Byte. This new cover surrounds Storm’s new Shape-Lock LD weight block. This core takes the basic shape of the Shape Lock core in the Virtual Gravity line, but with a much lower differential (LD).

This ball’s lower differential reduces the flare and it was best for us on the medium test pattern. Cranker liked this ball best on this pattern and for good reason. He was able to hit the ball as hard as he wanted at the bottom of the swing without it hooking too much or going sideways at the breakpoint. Even as the pattern broke down, he was not forced left enough to have to loft the left gutter to keep the ball in the pocket. Tweener and Stroker were not far behind on their reactions. They attacked this pattern from farther right and were able to keep the ball on line to the pocket. Once the balls started leaving the flat 10, they added a coat of Xtra Shine to all three test balls. The polish allowed all to store more energy and kick out the corner.

Moving to the heavy test pattern, Cranker again had the best reaction. The box finish created just enough friction to get to the pocket. Tweener and Stroker had to go more direct on this pattern as well as make sure they kept their speed down. We roughed up their two test balls with a fresh 2000 Abralon pad. With the rougher surface, both testers were able to get to the pocket more easily, but they lost some of the angle downlane.

The sport pattern was a good one for our testers. We really like balls that give us a predictable motion at the breakpoint on this flatter condition. This ball fits that bill perfectly. Bowlers who see heavier volume sport patterns than we use will want to lower the surface on their Zero Gravity to allow for more traction.

Strengths

A lot of times, bowlers are restricted to using high performance balls solely on heavy volume patterns. The Zero Gravity is versatile enough to use on most medium patterns as well.

Weaknesses

Bowlers looking for a ball to cut through oil on really high volume patterns will need to drill this ball very aggressively. Adding more surface will also help on these patterns.

Overall Summary

The Zero Gravity takes very well to surface changes. Higher finishes will allow this ball to store more energy than it does at the box finish.